UK Stocks-Factors to watch on July 7

LONDON, July 7 Britain's FTSE 100 index
is seen opening little changed on Monday - or 1 point lower to 1
point higher, according to financial bookmakers. For more on the
factors affecting European stocks, please click on

* Futures for the index were down 0.1 percent at
0640 GMT.

* The UK blue chip index rose 0.84 of a point - flat in
percentage terms - to 6,866.05 points on Friday, its highest
close since June 10.

Over the course of the week, it advanced 1.6 percent,
notching up its best weekly gain since early May, aided by
robust growth in U.S. employment, which raised expectations that
the world's biggest economy was on a recovery path.

* Global economic activity should accelerate in 2015 after
being gloomy at the start of 2014, IMF chief Christine Lagarde
said on Sunday, adding that the Fund saw no brutal slowdown in
China.

* Fund managers across the globe are optimistic about
attracting more investors over the next five years, a survey by
consultants EY showed, while also indicating that some managers
are starting to feel the pinch from regulatory pressure over
pay.

* Star British fund manager Neil Woodford, who left Invesco
Perpetual in April to start his own firm, is beginning his new
role with a focus on tobacco and drug stocks, believing they can
withstand what he expects will be a faltering global economy.

* Major British companies' risk appetite has edged lower
over the past three months as elections in 2015 and the prospect
of a referendum on leaving the European Union loom, a quarterly
survey by accountants Deloitte showed.

* TAYLOR WIMPEY : The housebuilder said it performed
strongly in the first half of 2014, with sales rates and pricing
at the upper end of its expectations.

* ANGLO AMERICAN : The global miner said it would
sell its 50 percent stake in Lafarge Tarmac to Lafarge
for a minimum value of 885 million pounds ($1.51 billion) in
cash, on a debt and cash free basis.

* BHP BILLITON : Six potential bidders, including
Dutch commodity trader Trafigura and Hong
Kong-listed MMG Ltd, are looking at the books of BHP
Billiton's Australian nickel unit, the Australian Financial
Review reported on Sunday, without saying where it got the
information.

* SABMILLER : The global brewer said it would dispose
of its $1 billion stake in Tsogo Sun, the South
African-listed gaming, hotel and entertainment group.

* BARCLAYS : Mike Rake has quit the race to become
Barclays' next chairman as the CBI president feels the role
would prevent him from taking on any further positions, Sky News
reported on Saturday, citing sources.

* 3I GROUP : The private equity firm is considering a
sale or initial public offering of its Finish telecommunication
unit, Eltel Networks, in a deal that may value it about 1
billion euros ($1.4 billion) including debt, Bloomberg reported
on Sunday.

* BURBERRY : Burberry is facing an investor revolt
over a 20 million pound ($34 million) pay deal for its new chief
executive Christopher Bailey, who took the helm of the British
maker of luxury clothing and accessories in May, the Sunday
Times reported.

* MOTHERCARE : Leading investors in the UK chain
Mothercare backed the company's rejection of a 270 million
pounds takeover bid from U.S. rival baby product retailer
Destination Maternity, the Sunday Telegraph said.

* SHIRE : AbbVie Chief Executive Richard
Gonzalez has pressed the case for his $46 billion pursuit of
drugmaker Shire in discreet meetings with shareholders in London
last week and is now weighing his next move, according to people
familiar with the matter, Reuters reported last week.

* ROYAL DUTCH SHELL : Royal Dutch Shell's search for
gas in Saudi Arabia has been unsuccessful, the director of
upstream international business Andrew Brown said, dashing hopes
of the firm gaining an upstream foothold in the country,
according to the Sunday Telegraph.

* FIRSTGROUP : Criticism of executive pay at British
bus and train operator FirstGroup has intensified after three
investor advisory groups raised concerns over the 86 percent
jump in the amount chief executive Tim O'Toole took home last
year, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines
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($1 = 0.7331 Euros)
($1 = 0.5877 British Pounds)
(Reporting by Tricia Wright; Editing by Francesco Canepa and
Alistair Smout)

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